speciously
/ˈspiːʃəsli/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.07 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
In a specious manner; fallaciously and erroneously, but seeming superficially to be correct.
adv
Example Sentences
- "Exasperated, as he might speciously allege, by the injuries of a similar nature, he hastened with a few followers to join the standard, and to betray the confidence, of his too credulous friend."
- "And thus his jealous soul speciously argued to excuse the separation of father and child."
- "Once viewed—however speciously—as an escape from the wider world, American sports and politics have been explicitly entwined since athletes began protesting civil rights injustices, prodding their organisations to take a stance amid the polarising rise to power of Donald Trump."
- "I will do what I can for them all three, for so I haue promisd, and Ile bee as good as my word, but speciously for M. Fenton."
Etymology
From specious + -ly.
Word Breakdown
Inflected Forms
more speciously (comparative)
most speciously (superlative)